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This Is How (and How Much) Millennials Actually Text

Krista Gray·May 13, 2017

With emojis, sketching, and abbreviation-filled lingo your mom can’t always understand (WTH), texting has become an ultra-fun and (mostly) efficient way to communicate. In fact, Americans prefer texting to talking, with fewer people than ever using their phone to actually place calls. Crazy, right? Since savvy teens and millennials have helped lead the texting charge, Wattpad, a global multi-platform entertainment company, recently surveyed over 1,000 people between the ages of 16-34 (AKA GenY) to better understand their behaviors, thoughts, and habits. This was inspired by the launch of Textrovert, a book by one of Wattpad’s most read writers, Lindsey Summers. Scroll on for the surprising stats to figure out where you stack up.

Surprising Stats About Texting

1. Teens love to power-text. We’re not strangers when it comes to messaging for much of the day, but Wattpad’s research shows that a quarter of 16-18-year-olds text more than 100 times each day. We’re surprised their fingers haven’t fallen off yet.

2. More than half of teens and millennials use read receipts. Read receipts can be a slippery slope, putting pressure on you to respond ASAP once you’ve opened a message. Even so, 55 percent of teens and millennials *do* have them enabled.

3. Sneaky texting happens a lot more than you might think. About half (47.2 percent) of teens and millennials admit to texting from another person’s phone while pretending to be them. Whoa! Wait here while we scroll through our sent messages to make sure there aren’t any imposter texts.

4. Waiting to respond is a real thing. Do you ever intentionally wait to respond to a text? Turns out, it’s definitely not just you. On average, teens and millennials wait about 10 minutes before sending a message back — and think others should do the same.

Most Embarrassing Text Mishaps

Wattpad’s survey shows that 90 percent of teens and millennials have accidentally sent a text to the wrong person, including their mom, crush, ex, and boss. Unfortunately, we’ve totally been there too. Here are a few more stats on embarrassing texting mix-ups:

30 percent of teens and millennials would be embarrassed to send the wrong text to their mom, but only eight percent would be embarrassed to send it to dad. Hmm.

23 percent of survey participants said they’d be embarrassed to send a wrong text to their crush but only 15.5 percent would be embarrassed to send it to their ex.

16 percent would be embarrassed to accidentally send a text to their boss, but only nine percent would be embarrassed if it went to a coworker. Sounds about right.

How often do you text? What’s the most hilarious or embarrassing message you’ve ever sent or received? Tell us on Twitter @BritandCo!